Winter Tires in Portland

[Schneller78]

I just moved to Portland this spring, and I am also a proud owner (leasee) of a 2009 335i Coupe with the M-Sport package. This car is wearing some pretty aggressive Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s which I am pretty sure would be inadequate for the PNW winter at the very least from a temperature standpoint.

Since I am leasing, I probably don't want to go out and buy a whole new set of wheels, but does anyone have recommendations for tires to deal with the winter season in PDX? When will I need to have them installed by (mid-October, December, etc?)

Any advice is appreciated!

[Lavalamp425]

Well I'm up in Seattle, and I'm running the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE050A RFTs for summer tires, and Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 RFTs (225/45-17 all-around) for winter tires. If you intend to go skiing/snowboarding or drive over mountain passes, or absolutely cannot be stuck at home for a couple of days if it snows (and sticks), then you should get snow tires. This would pretty much require you to get a seperate set of wheels to go with them, as you don't want to run snow tires year-round (they're very soft and squishy and wear quickly in warm temperatures). There are a couple types of snow tires: "performance" snows and "studless" snows. The performance snows give up less dry and wet handling but sacrifice snow and ice traction relative to the studless snows. For example, my dad has a 2001 330xi with studless snows, and his car is basically unstoppable unless he gets high-centered (I almost did that driving his car last winter!). My 2007 335i Coupe has performance snows and is fine for driving in a few inches of snow, or on plowed roads, but you have to be kind of careful. Starting off especially is tricky in a car with so much power (sometimes I wish I had xDrive). I mount my snow tires in early to mid-November and take them off in late March.

If you can be stuck for a couple of days and don't drive in the mountains, get a good set of all-season tires and you'll be fine. There's a good chance that it will snow and you won't be able to/want to drive your car for one or two days, but all-season tires can handle everything else. As always, be cautious in marginal conditions!

If you get snows tires and wheels, get 17-inch wheels with 225/45-17 tires. It may even be possible to fit 205/55-17 but I've heard conflicting info on that. 17" in the smallest wheel diameter that will clear the brakes. If you get all-seasons, go ahead and get 18s that fit your current wheels. Also, when you return the car from lease BMW requires that you have RFTs.

The most popular snow tires that people on the 'Fest use are:
Performance snows
Dunlop SP WinterSport 3D
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 (RFT)
Studless snows - these are Q-rated and you cannot drive fast on these!
Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60
Michelin X-Ice Xi2

All-season tires that are popular here:
Yokohama ADVAN S4
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus

Good luck!

[ethirty9]

i'm runnin michelin pilot sport a/s and they work perfectly fine. i'm looking to buy new set of pilot sport right now actually so that's what i'd recomend. welcome to p-town.

[Beemersn]

I just moved to Portland this spring, and I am also a proud owner (leasee) of a 2009 335i Coupe with the M-Sport package. This car is wearing some pretty aggressive Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s which I am pretty sure would be inadequate for the PNW winter at the very least from a temperature standpoint.

Since I am leasing, I probably don't want to go out and buy a whole new set of wheels, but does anyone have recommendations for tires to deal with the winter season in PDX? When will I need to have them installed by (mid-October, December, etc?)

Any advice is appreciated!

Given last two winters here in Portland, I would recommend to get a dedicated winter set.

I have a dedicated winter tires with 18" wheels for my 2008 E93. Mine is a leased too. I will sell the winter set up when my lease is up in 2011.

Welcome to the North West

[mrnile]

Given last two winters here in Portland, I would recommend to get a dedicated winter set.

I have a dedicated winter tires with 18" wheels for my 2008 E93. Mine is a leased too. I will sell the winter set up when my lease is up in 2011.

Welcome to the North West

if you dont mind me asking, what size tires are you running and are the on a staggered wheel setup? I bought a set of staggered OEM 18's for my E46 M3 and just want to see what my options may be (size-wise) with winter tires.

[Lavalamp425]

Given last two winters here in Portland, I would recommend to get a dedicated winter set.

I have a dedicated winter tires with 18" wheels for my 2008 E93. Mine is a leased too. I will sell the winter set up when my lease is up in 2011.

Welcome to the North West

I disagree that you need a dedicated winter set. The last several winters have all been really bad, and last winter was historically bad (worst in 30+ years). Usually it will snow every winter, but only stick every other winter, and even then only for a day or two. Chances are that the weather goes back towards the norm. Provided you're just in town, all-season tires are enough. But the caveats I noted in my first post apply (can't be stuck, drive in mountains, etc.). I have snow tires because I can't really afford to

if you dont mind me asking, what size tires are you running and are the on a staggered wheel setup? I bought a set of staggered OEM 18's for my E46 M3 and just want to see what my options may be (size-wise) with winter tires.

Do you mean E46 M3 OEM staggered 18's? Or OEM's for an E90/92 335i? The tire sizes are a bit different. 335i's with sport package run slightly lower profile tires (225/40-18 F & 255/35-18 R) than the M3 (225/45-18 F, 255/40-18 R). While you could swap tires between the two, you would have a different tire diameter and so your speedometer would be off.
As far as winter tires in the M3's size, the two options I know of are the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 and the Dunlop SP WinterSport M3. Ideally you would get another set of rims and minus size down to 225/50-17, which would open up many more options like the newer Dunlop SP WinterSport 3D (the M3's successor, its a better tire), the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3, etc.

[Schneller78]

I appreciate the responses from everyone. I live within walking (or streetcar) distance of my office, but I also have clients all over the greater PDX metro area. Thankfully I am flexible enough to work from pretty much any location, so 18" of snow would really only be a PITA. That being said, if the forcast looks really bad, I could always dip into my rental car points to get an SUV for the week if need be. I do want to be able to use my 335i as a daily driver year round though... so I will probably end up going for the All Seasons.

As far as recommendations for tire shops in Portland... I know most of the 'Festers go to Tire Rack and then have a local shop install the tires, but what are the thoughts of Costco/Les Schwab/Sears/etc to buy and install the tires? Also, will any of those places store the summer tires for you?

Thanks again!

[Lavalamp425]

I've used Costco before on my old '91 525i, and they were fine. Nothing special good or bad either way, they just had the tires I was looking for at the cheapest price. They won't store tires for you. I got my winter tires through Discount and they did the mounting for free (on staggered Style 161 wheels, acquired seperately). Again no complaints.

Sorry I can't add anything specific about Portland-area shops.

[mrnile]

Do you mean E46 M3 OEM staggered 18's? Or OEM's for an E90/92 335i?

M3 OEM staggered 18's, currently on the car I have M3 OEM 19's staggered.

I will most likely buy a new set of tires the 19's come spring time, just really waiting on a tirerack review on the Hankook Ventus V12s. I want to make sure I have some good tires to get me through the random rain showers WA has and not sacrifice summer weather performance.

I don't mean to thread jack! Back to winter tire discussion!

[Gurltech]

Just mounted my Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow's over the weekend.
Went from the 19inch Michelin Diamaris to the 17's Ice & Snow for the winter.

I fear no Snow at the Passes, let the Snowboarding begin!